RALEIGH - United States District Judge Terrence W. Boyle today
sentenced JOHN THOMAS DAVIS, 59, of Wake Forest, North Carolina, to
seven consecutive 20-year prison terms for using a child to create
a series of sadistic sex abuse images in 2000 and 2001, and for
receiving third party images of child sex abuse between 2005 and
2007. This was the maximum punishment permitted by law. DAVIS was
further ordered to pay restitution to the victim in the amount of
$480,000. DAVIS pled guilty in February to a Criminal Information
filed by the United States Attorney’s Office charging him with six
counts of manufacturing child pornography and one count of receipt
of child pornography.

The case came to light in June, 2007, when an individual
arrived at the Wake Forest Police Department reporting DAVIS had
been sexually abusing her and creating child pornography in the
process. The subsequent investigation revealed that the victim had
been repeatedly used to make child sex abuse images when she was
approximately 14 years old. The pictures included images of the
victim in simulated torture, bondage, and execution scenes.

Based on this lead, a search warrant was obtained and executed
at DAVIS’ residence. Investigators found a large volume of
evidence, including floppy disks, printed images of child
pornography, and multiple computers and camera equipment used to
make the pictures. The computer evidence was submitted for
forensic analysis and revealed 3,290 images of child pornography,
approximately 200 floppy disks containing nude and pornographic
images of the victim, and approximately 3,500 printed images of
child pornography.

The victim who was abused to create DAVIS’ photographs was
given the opportunity to address the Court, and spoke directly to
the Court and to DAVIS about the damage his violent sexual abuse
had wrought, expressing her view that DAVIS was a violent,
manipulative man who could not be rehabilitated.

United States Attorney George E.B. Holding attended the
proceedings and commented: “I am grateful that Judge Boyle imposed
a sentence today that is commensurate with the level of sheer
cruelty involved in this crime and the lifelong damage that child
sexual abuse does. One hundred and forty years is not an everyday
sentence, but JOHN DAVIS’ was not an everyday crime, even by the
grim standards of child sex abuse cases.”

Holding also thanked the victim for her appearance at the
hearing. “Our system of justice exists first and foremost for the
victims of crime. There is nothing I or any other lawyer could say
about this case that would live up to the impact that the victim’s
appearance today was able to have. I am inspired by the courage
she showed in vindicating her rights, facing her abuser and doing
her part in ensuring that a measure of justice was brought to her
case. I hope that this result will serve as a good first step
towards her recovery.”

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a
nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child
sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the
Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and
the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section
(CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local
resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who
exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and
rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood,
please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Investigation of the case was conducted by the United States
Postal Inspection Service, the North Carolina State Bureau of
Investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Granville
County Sheriff's Office and the Wake Forest Police Department.
Assistant United States AttorneyJay Exum served as prosecutor for
the United States, and worked with the Wake County District
Attorney’s office in coordinating prosecution of the matter.

News releases are available on the U. S. Attorney’s web page at
www.usdoj.gov/usao/nce within 48 hours of release.

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